Wilmot Weekly

Nobody’s Perfect by Marlee Matlin January 2004

Nobody’s Perfect
Kansas Weather
By: Shanjida Ambia
Report
The realistic fiction book Nobody’s
Perfect by Marlee Matlin is about two girls Forecast: Windy, sight chance of snow
who overcame their differences and became
friends. At the beginning, Megan wanted to Temperature: 410 F
work with Cindy, her best friend on a science
project. In addition, she wanted to uncover Low: 32 0F High: 44 0F
why Alexis, the new girl, didn’t like her.
Time: 5:00 January 18th 2004
Megan got her chance when she and Alexis
were assigned to work together on the science Location/Place: Wilmot Elementary
project. The girls struggled to find a topic but
finally agreed upon “Hamsters Prefer Purple.” School, Utah
Megan went over to Alexis’s house to
complete the project but found out she wasn’t
there. Over at Alexis’s house Megan learned
Alexis’s baby brother is autistic and that was
the reason Alexis was uncomfortable around
Megan. At last, both girls overcame the
obstacles to the start of their friendship and
end up winning a special purple ribbon.

Newsletter 1
 Deaf girl Makes Interesting
Discovery
By: Shanjida Ambia
Hays, Kansas- 9 year old Megan
Merrill has discovered an interesting thing.
Megan had a girl’s 4-year old autistic
brother sign language. This accidently
happened when Megan tried to tell the little
boy, Justin, where he had hid the hamster.
Megan Merrill indicated hamster by
brushing her finger across her nose.
The girl, Alexis, and Megan were
working on a science project together. The
project “Hamster’s Prefer Purple” involved a
hamster named Zippity, but Zippity had
escaped from his cage. Alexis tried
screaming at her brother but that had no
effect.
“ I kept on screaming, Justin where’s
the hamster, but I didn’t know he would get
scared of me, ” Alexis reported.
“ I didn’t like the way Alexis was
treating Justin. By the look on her face I
knew she was screaming at him. Instead of
verbally telling him hamster, I signed it to
him. He kept on signing the word and then
led me and Alexis to the basement behind the
laundry,” Megan told Wilmot Weekly.
Alexis's mom was shocked by this
discovery and started crying tears of joy.
"I never thought I would hear my little
baby speak properly. Who knew his first
word would be hamster? I was very thankful
to Megan, " explained Alexis's mom.
In the end, all had turned out well.
Justin had learned his very first word. Megan
and Alexis had won a special purple ribbon
for their science fair project.

Megan on the other hand knew what

to do since she also had a disability,
deafness.

Newsletter 2
 Interview with Special Guest: Alexis
Powell
Q: How does living with an
autistic brother affect you?
A: (Smiles weakly and shifts
around in seat) My mom and dad
expect me to be perfect and I feel as if I
have to be twice as perfect just to
make up for my brother's disorder. It's
really hard for me to deal with. I didn't
want anyone at school to know about
my brother's condition. I thought that if
they found out, they would make fun of
me and tease me about it.
Q: How would you describe
yourself?
A: I would have to say that I am
confident but a self-conscious girl. I am
athletic but timid. I am really good at
soccer and I love purple. I'm also
uncomfortable and nervous around
abnormal people because of my
brother's autism. I know I should be
used to it, but every time I meet
someone with the condition like that I
don't know how to react. I almost
forgot, I have a habit of scrunching my
nose when I talk to a person I don't
like. I really have to break that one. I
guess that's it.
Q: How would you say others
react to you?
A: (Laughs) Well a perfect
example would be Megan Merrill.
When she first met me, she thought I
Newsletter 3
perfect because I'm smart, pretty, and
amazing at soccer. But then she
thought I was weird because I didn't
like deaf people like her. She probably
thought that because I wasn't very nice
to her in the beginning. I actually had
never met anyone like her. She was
deaf but she was popular. She had so
many friends and I didn't. Her best
friend Cindy thought I was rude
because I rejected Megan's birthday
invitation in front of the whole class
and made her look like a fool. I know I
wasn't very nice.
Q: How did you and your mom
react when Justin signed his first
word?
A: (Sighs and thinks for a
moment) I felt so proud of him. It was
the best feeling in the world. Who
knew his first word would be hamster?
My mom was even more overjoyed
than me. Tears were coming out of her
eyes when she saw him sign the word
hamster. Then she smothered him in
kisses. We were both amazed.
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Newsletter 4